It’s no easy matter picking the most irksome special interest from the multitude
that support the Bush Administration’s retrograde policies. Pressed, however, I
would pick the ideologues who complain about “junk science.”
Don’t get me wrong. People on my side of the political spectrum have used
dubious scientific research or distorted the context of good research to push
their own agenda. They deserve criticism not just from their political foes but
also from those of us who depend on methodologically trustworthy science to make
up our minds about public policy.
But the rightwingers who deploy the “junk science” epithet don’t merely attack
those who deserve to be publicly raked over the coals. What they have in mind is
undermining the very integrity of every scientific field of study that affects
an issue they have targeted. They have turned the noun phrase “junk science”
into a verb phrase. They literally want to junk science. While seeking to
privatize so much else, they seek to institutionalize the kind of
fraud the Monsanto company
pulled off two decades ago regarding dioxin.
No advocacy group has been more upset about this politicization than the Union
of Concerned Scientists. Thanks to their efforts, 60 top scientists issued a
statement today lambasting the Bush Administration for its efforts to twist
science to its own ends.
Preeminent
Scientists Protest Bush Administration's Misuse of Science
Nobel Laureates, National Medal of Science Recipients, and Other Leading
Researchers Call for End to Scientific Abuses
Today, more than 60 leading scientists—including Nobel laureates, leading
medical experts, former federal agency directors and university chairs and
presidents—issued a statement calling for regulatory and legislative action to
restore scientific integrity to federal policymaking. According to the
scientists, the Bush administration has, among other abuses, suppressed and
distorted scientific analysis from federal agencies, and taken actions that have
undermined the quality of scientific advisory panels.
“Across a broad range of issues, the administration has undermined the quality
of the scientific advisory system and the morale of the government’s outstanding
scientific personnel,” said Dr. Kurt Gottfried, emeritus professor of physics at Cornell University and Chairman of the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Whether the issue is lead paint, clean air or climate change, this behavior has serious consequences for all Americans.”
“Science, to quote President Bush's father, the former president, relies on freedom of inquiry and objectivity,” said Russell Train, head of the
Environmental Protection Agency under Nixon and Ford, who joined the scientists in calling for action. “But this administration has obstructed that freedom and distorted that objectivity in ways that were unheard of in any previous
administration.”
UCS previously put together a full report -
Scientific Integrity in Policymaking
(An Investigation into the Bush Administration's Misuse of Science) - that is well worth a read.
Keeping up with this destruction of honest research and honest discourse is a full-time job. But, in addition to UCS, a good Web site to visit regularly is
Politics &
Science: Investigating the State of Science Under the Bush Administration presented by Henry Waxman, the senior Democrat on the House Committee on Government Reform.